I’m full of shame and a high level of guilt and a lot of remorse that I’m telling you that a few days ago I was caught shoplifting from Primark.

This is not of my nature and I have never done anything like this before in my life.

I have had a lot of home pressures lately and a marriage that is on the brink of divorce too.

Not in any way is that an excuse for my behaviour though.

I apologised profusely to the store and I apologise to anyone reading this too.

I was taken to the holding room where the security guard asked me to put back all items I had taken.

It came to a total of £62.

The guard asked me if I had some ID on me but I had not so he said he would have to call the police.

Having ID meant it could have been dealt with internally.

Police came and I was issued with a Community Resolution slip.

And as a part of this I have a store ban and expecting a bill from RLP to cover compensation costs.

My questions are:

1. What does this community resolution means now? Am I a criminal?

2. I’m a teacher but had some time out to raise my family. What does this mean for my career?

3. I volunteer with Girlguides and the NSPCC and a few other smaller chairties. Is my role in jeopardy?

4. I am waiting to receive the compensation fee from RLP and will happily pay it as I know fully I was in the wrong.

Just to reiterate,

I’m so sorry for doing this,

I would consider myself an upstanding citizen,

and I had a momentary lapse of good morals and judgement.

I feel so bad about this and so guilty and so fearful each day that the I may receive some communication that things have to be taken further by the police and I will be made to make up for my I’ll behaviour more.

Thanks for any advice or help

My questions are:

1. What does this community resolution means now? Am I a criminal? - no!!

2. I’m a teacher but had some time out to raise my family. What does this mean for my career? - nothing

3. I volunteer with Girlguides and the NSPCC and a few other smaller chairties. Is my role in jeopardy? - no

4. I am waiting to receive the compensation fee from RLP and will happily pay it as I know fully I was in the wrong.

well you don't

you totally ignore them.

there is nothing they can do to you

I've moved you to the RLP forum

just go read a few posts here

you'll soon get the idea.

it makes no odd that the police were involved, their part is done and dusted they kept no record...you'll here no more from them.

dx

Never pay RLP. Ever. Theres no need to. As already said, the police have dealt with you and its over and done with. It wont stop the mucky paws of RLP trying to get money out of you, but you can completely ignore them.

As above - NEVER pay RLP a penny. They are not entitled to it and there is no lawful reason why they should receive it. They will write and tell you that 'their client' reserves the right to take legal action, but that will never ever happen as the matter was dealt with at the time, the goods were recovered and Primark suffered no loss. RLP will claim that 'their client' is entitled to a contribution towards security costs - there are no costs applicable over and above what they would have paid the security guard(s) on that day had you not even entered the store, so again they have suffered no recoverable loss - and this was proven the last time that RLP encouraged a client to try to recover such amounts in court - over 6 years ago and they lost so heavily that none of their clients have gone near court since, so forget all about that.

RLP may well even copy and paste bits of this thread into any letters to you and tell you that we know nothing and give bad advice. Simply read other threads here and try to find one where court action has resulted from such poor advice...you won't find anything either here or elsewhere

The potentially sticky point for you 'might' be the involvement of the police and for your career and voluntary activities requiring enhanced DBS checks. A Community Resolution requires an admission of guilt, and will have been recorded on local police records but not the Police National Computer. As such it 'may' be disclosed in a DBS check but only if it is considered relevant to the position requiring the DBS check, even though you can honestly state that you have no criminal convictions or cautions if asked that question. This is a possibility, although unlikely but it is best to know, so you may want to get a SAR from the police which should give you an idea of what, if anything has been recorded on the police information system

Please try not to let this get you down even further, and hopefully you are getting help to deal with the root causes of this issue. Health and family are what matters most at the moment

Thankyou so much for replies so far and referring me to the RLP forums, which I will go ahead and read.

I have to say I’m still concerned about how this affects my career/ voluntary work. Everything seems so much in limbo - I did not know about the SAR, so will make efforts to get that sorted. How soon do you think I should apply for that seeing as the incident only happened a few days ago?

I still feel incredibly guilty and weary of anything more coming from this, but it is just a case of facing the consequences of my sheer stupidity albeit a momentary period of stupidity.

Sorry to be a pain, but something has just occurred to me...

Now that I have been given a community resolution order does that mean I have a conviction?

I originally thought not as I have read that it doesn’t mean I have a criminal record, but I think because I’m so distraught by all of this I have all sorts running through my mind that needs clarifying.

Many thanks in advance

no it is not a conviction. Its a resolution order. Meaning its in place of one to avoid taking up police and court time.

You dont have a criminal record at all.

Basically its like a slap on the wrist to not do it again instead of a full on beatdown.

Please go and visit your Dr, the guilt does go with time, you need to put it out of your head, it has been dealt with, they have moved on and so should you.

Make an appointment to see your Dr and have a chat with them.

No - definitely not a conviction or a caution. A CR is an opportunity for first time low level offences to be dealt with outside of the court process and to avoid staining an otherwise clean record with a criminal record for something trivial and (hopefully) unlikely to happen again. Should there be further events, then the CR can be taken into account as 'history' of committing offences, but as per my previous, you can genuinely and honestly say that you have no convictions or cautions, as you don't. All that there may be is a record held locally that you were investigated for a matter of shoplifting and that this was dealt with by CR, not a criminal marker on the PNC

I know of 3 people with similar resolutions, they've had no issue with scouts, children, guides etc etc , and their CRO does show on enhanced search

Hi and a warm welcome from me,

All I can do is generally agree with the other posters here. I take it you haven't had the details of the CRO. It may be something as simple as writing a letter of apology.

You would be surprised how many people come here asking similar questions as yours and for similar reasons too. Mental health issues form a large percentage of the cases here so seeing your GP is the one thing I would recommend. Speaking to your doctor might just help in understanding the poor choice you made. You may be offered a short course of anti - depressants. Don't be afraid of them. They do help (once into your system)

As for RLP. Everybody here will say don't pay them. I agree. RLP share with retailers the proceeds of people foolish enough to believe their rubbish and RLP get the lions share. The letters will claim that each incident costs between £300 and £500 and that all they want is a contribution to these costs. Total rubbish of course for one simple reason. If it was true that it cost Primark this amount, shouldn't they get 100% of the claimed monies? The last I heard, RLP take 60% and the store gets the rest.

Don't fall for the lies which is exactly what they are. The letters will be worded in such a way that people believe they have some power. They Don't! Always read and read again to discover what they actually mean.

I wrote this post a ling time ago but it is still relevant today.

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?448994-RLP-FAQ-s.-What-do-they-mean-Reviewed-September-2015&p=4762870&viewfull=1#post4762870

Now, I am not 100% sure I agree with their being nothing on a CRB check. A basic one would not show anything but this is the bit I am not sure of. An enhanced CRB check allows the police to add things that may be relevant to any job and the CRO may show up. Like I said, not 100% but better be more alert to the possibility. Sorry if I sound pensive but I just don't know.

After such a long missive, it boils down to this.

Do the CRO

Ignore RLP

See your GP

Good luck

A Community Resolution, like others have said, is basically an agreement between the police, the store, and yourself that’s says, instead of being arrested and prosecuted, we are going to deal with it here and now.

You should have been issued with a form that the police filled in and you had to sign. It’s a small A5 carbonated form that when is done, is split amongst the three of you. The police keep the white copy, the victim (in this case the store) keeps the yellow copy, and the offender (in this case you) keeps the green copy. On this form there is a section for the police to put what has been agreed - for the majority of my jobs, it simply says ‘exclusion order served’ for some it may be a letter of apology (which isn’t a bad idea whether it is in the CR or not).

NB if anybody is interested and wants to see a CR form, let me know and I’ll pull one out, redact the information and post it.

Like others have said it is not a criminal conviction, so you would be telling the truth to say you have no convictions (as long as you didn’t have any prior to this). It is recorded on police systems though. So if you are required to have an enhanced disclosure as part of your job (which from what I understand - a teacher does need) it MAY show up. Ultimately, it’s down to the person processing your enhanced disclosure to decide whether it is relevant to the role. So really it’s in the lap of the gods. I’m sorry and I know it’s not what you want to hear but I’m just being honest - I don’t mind admitting that I really wouldn’t know which way that would go, as to whether they would deem it relevant. It basically comes down to dishonesty - so if you were going for a job that involved you being in charge of money - it would certainly be disclosed. Teaching? I’m not too sure.

As others have said. Simply ignore RLP.

Please see your GP and put an end to this pattern of behaviour before it becomes worse.

I wish you the best of luck.

LPG